


Let the Music Play, Yesterdays Fade Away

by romeoandjulietyouwish



Series: Twins Peter and Penny [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, It's Penny, Panic Attacks, Past Rape/Non-con, Penny Parker has a Twin, Peter Parker Has a Twin, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:08:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23162245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romeoandjulietyouwish/pseuds/romeoandjulietyouwish
Summary: At only 16, Peter and Penny Parker are attending the most exclusive party of the year: The Stark Industries Gala. It's too bad that the night is ruined by a horribly familiar face.(Please mind the tags)
Relationships: Penny Parker & Peter Parker, Penny Parker & Steve Rogers, Penny Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Twins Peter and Penny [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1609225
Comments: 12
Kudos: 200





	Let the Music Play, Yesterdays Fade Away

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, loves! I have been working on this fic for forever so I'm super pumped to finally share it with you! 
> 
> What you need to know about this AU:  
> 1\. Peter and Penny are twins (Penny a few minutes younger)  
> 2\. May is alive, just not mentioned in this fic  
> 3\. Peter and Penny both intern at Stark Industries  
> 4\. The public knows who the two of them are, but not that Peter is Spiderman  
> 5\. Only Peter has superpowers
> 
> Please mind the tags! This is a fic dealing with the aftermath of rape so it includes a panic attack as well as a flashback and discussion of the abuse. 
> 
> Thank you and happy reading!

The Stark Industries Gala, perhaps the most exclusive party of the year, is only fifteen minutes away. And because Pepper didn’t want to go, Penny and Peter are going with Tony Stark. 

Could her life be any more insane?

Well, she _is_ standing in front of a mirror wearing a dress more expensive than a car. Penny rolls her eyes at her thoughts and takes one last look at her reflection, brushing away lint from her shoulder, before taking a deep breath and walking out of her bedroom to find Tony and Peter in the living room. 

Her shoes click against the concrete floor as she walks from her bedroom. No doubt Tony and Peter are both ready to go. And sure enough, they both are. Both boys wear black and white suits, but Peter with a red tie and Tony with a green one to match Penny’s dress. Penny’s eye catches on the spider cuff links on Peter’s sleeves. 

Tony stands, a warm smile covering his face at the sight of her. “You look beautiful, Pen,” Tony says softly. Penny imagines Ben would say the same thing if he were here, it makes her smile.

“Thank you,” Penny smiles, swishing her skirt around her legs. She had been too busy with school to go shopping o so Pepper had picked the dress out for her, saying that emerald green goes nice with her eyes. The dress is fancy enough for the black-tie Stark Gala, falling just below Penny’s knees and two small straps holding it up at her shoulders. Natasha helped her curl her hair into waves, pinning strands back so it would stay out of her eyes. She looks like the cover of those magazines May buys. 

“What about me?” Peter pouts from where he lounges on the couch. “Don’t I look beautiful?”

Penny laughs while Tony rolls his eyes, “You look beautiful too, Pete.” 

“Awww,” Peter bats his eyes as he stands. “Thank you so much!”

“Brat,” Tony says affectionately under his breath. He looks between the two of them, “Are we ready to go?” 

“Ask her,” Peter points at Penny, “she’s the one we were waiting for.” Penny sticks her tongue out at her brother, earning an endeared sigh from Tony. 

“Let’s go then,” Tony tells them. 

So Tony takes each of them by the shoulder and gives them a light push towards the elevator. The gala, unlike previous years, is in the Stark Industries building so it’s only a short ride for them. In the elevator Tony stands between the siblings, a hand on their shoulders. To her surprise, Penny doesn’t feel as nervous as she was expecting, there’s not a ball of anxiety in her chest, just excitement for the party. Penny smiles and takes a happy breath. 

Once they get downstairs, the trio is directed to the press room where a large backdrop covered with the Stark Industries logo sits. The left half of the room is covered in press people from every newspaper, magazine, and tv company in existence, all flashing their cameras. Penny looks up at Peter to make sure he’s not overwhelmed by the lights and noise. But he just smiles at her and taps near his eye, indicating he’s wearing the contacts Tony made him. 

A woman talking rapidly into an earpiece ushers them into the press room. Tony talked to them about this earlier, all they have to do is smile, pose, take a few pictures, and they can be on their way to the gala. It’s not as bad as Penny expected, in fact, it’s kind of fun. Tony makes both the siblings laugh, hopefully catching some good photos. Penny and Peter pose side by side and with Tony standing proudly between them. After only a few minutes of photos, the same woman leads them out of the press room and into a smaller room, empty except for a few mirrors and chairs. Behind a set of opaque glass doors, Penny can see people moving. The gala. 

Tony kisses both of the twins’ heads and tells them, “Two rules okay: no alcohol and please try your best not to anger the press? You’re going to have to do a few interviews, so please try not to tell them you hate me?” 

“Lying is a sin,” Penny sasses. 

Tony gives her a blank look, “You’re a menace.” Penny laughs. “Be safe, stick together, find me or the other Avengers if you need something okay?” They nod. 

Tony pushes open the door and the twins walk in, Tony following them. The room is enormous with three bars, dozens of tables, and a band in the corner. Everyone in the gala is dressed to the nines; there’s more money right here in this room than in the bank, Penny thinks. As Penny and Peter wander around the gala, she can feel dozens of eyes on her and Peter and she can hear the whispers.

“Stark interns-”

“She looks beautiful tonight.”

“I heard Tony Stark put them in his will.”

“Geniuses-”

“The Parker twins-”

Penny just rolls her eyes, after three months of overhearing the same talk and gossip, she’s used to it. 

Penny and Peter wind up sitting at a table in the corner, watching people. Looking around the room, they find Tony talking to two men in fancy suits, Natasha and Sam chatting at the bar, and Steve and Thor downing brown drinks across the room, laughing merrily. Penny wants to talk with them, not the stuff board members and press people. But Tony said that all they had to do was make sure they talked to a handful of people before their friends. 

“Excuse me?” A man approaches their table with a friendly smile and a tape recorder, press name tag stuck to his lapel. “My name is Mark Carrol and I work for the Washington Post, could I get an interview?” 

“Of course,” Penny says as friendly as she can manage. Mark pulls up a chair and clicks on his recorder.

“I am sitting down with Peter and Penelope Parker, the famed Stark interns. Tell me you two, how did you both end up getting hired at Stark Industries in one of the most prestigious positions without even graduating high school?”

Peter starts talking, spewing the cover story they came up with, “I applied for the general internship program with a focus on engineering and biochem and I guess my application must have impressed Mr. Stark because he showed up in our apartment and asked me to be his personal intern.” Peter shrugs, looking to Penny to continue the story. 

“After Peter had been working with Mr. Stark for a few months, he came to one of our school’s science fairs,” Penny takes over. Mark, listening intently. “I won it and Mr. Stark was impressed with my work and offered me the same position.” 

Mark nods, “So in a way, Penelope, you owe all your success to your brother.” 

Penny plasters on her best smile, hiding her gritting teeth, “I guess.” She doesn’t want to make this man angry by disagreeing with him.

Peter snaps to look at her and the back at the reporter, “Actually Penny was successful even before the internship.” Penny sees Carrol’s fake smile start to falter and Penny sends Peter a warning glare. Don’t anger the press. “She’s won numerous science awards and attended dozens of conferences around the country and she already has a guaranteed position at MIT once she graduates.” 

Penny fixes Peter with a look, silently telling him to shut up. Thankfully he does. Mark, to his credit, just smiles, “That’s very impressive.” He looks at his notepad. “Penelope,” Mark says, “your brother said earlier that his specialty is engineering and biochem, what’s yours?”

“Genetics,” Penny responds. “I’ve recently begun working with Doctor Helen Cho on understanding enhanced individuals so as more of them start to crop up we can find new ways to help them.”

Mark nods with a smile, “What is it like working with Tony Stark?” 

“He’s surprisingly normal,” Penny says with a small laugh. “I don’t think he’s as insane as he comes across sometimes.”

Peter nods in agreement, “He’s a very patient teacher. I could imagine having a better mentor.”

“Thank you both for your time,” Mark says as he clicks off the recorder. “It was a pleasure talking to you. Have a goodnight.” The twins return the farewell, their fake smiles dropping as soon as his back is turned.    


Penny turns to Peter, “How many of those do you think we’re gonna have to do?” 

Peter laughs, “At least one,” pointing at the reporter already walking towards them. Penny groans minutely and plasters on her best press smile. 

Two interviews, dozens of photos, and an annoying amount of small talk later, Penny has had enough. She looks to Peter with pleading eyes, “Can we do something else?”

“Like what?” Peter asks, leaning back in his chair. 

Penny shrugs, “Get some food? Walk around? I just don’t want to do another interview.” Peter agrees and stands, offering his arm to her once she is on her feet, Penny rolls her eyes, “I’m not going to fall over. I’m not even wearing heels.”

Peter mocks being offended, “What about your poor brother? My delicate ankles? Maybe me offering you my arm was a disguise of my deep insecurities of my clumsiness and fragile bones?” 

Penny laughs, shoving his shoulder, “Dork.”

The siblings walk through party, laughing at the ridiculously dressed party guests and the drunk men and women sprawled across the couches in the corner. Steve and Thor are in their same spot, though instead of drinking it seems as though Steve is teaching Thor some sort of card game. That looks way more fun than doing interviews, Penny thinks. She can’t find Tony in the crowd but the room is fairly big so he must be here somewhere. Probably talking to investors or board members.

Then Penny sees something that makes her stop in her tracks. A man she never thought she’d see again. A man she never wanted to. And he’s walking right towards them. Penny’s heart pounds in her chest as those awful grey eyes meet hers. He doesn’t look the same. His hair is shorter and darker and he has a thick beard but Penny would recognize him anywhere. Penny grasps Peter’s arm tightly, her nails digging into his arm through the suit coat. 

Penny doesn’t know if Peter will recognize the man. He’d only seen him once in the courtroom. But Penny knows she will never forget those eyes and that awful twisted smile.  _ Ready to play a game, Penny? My pretty Penny? _

“Penny?” Peter asks, under his breath. But Penny’s response is cut off by-

“Peter and Penelope, am I right?”  _ That voice. _ “I hear you two are the talk of the party.” The man gives the twins a smile, if Penny didn’t know any better it would almost seem friendly. It’s the same smile she remembers from all those years ago.

Penny is frozen in place, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. She can feel his rough hands dragging her towards the bed, his gruff voice telling her that she needed to listen to him, his hand clapping over her mouth as she screamed.  _ You’ll thank me after this. I bet you will. You’ll see this gift I’m giving you. _

“Apparently so,” Peter laughs. “I didn’t know we were so popular.” Penny knows Peter can tell something’s wrong, he can hear her heartbeat. She can see him glance at her out of the corner of his eye. She wants to run away as fast as she can and curl up in a ball and cry until she falls asleep, until she stops remembering. But her feet are rooted into the floor. She can’t move. She can’t breathe. 

“Penelope, you look very beautiful tonight,” Skip compliments.  _ You’re so beautiful, Penny. I’m lucky that I get a slut like you all to myself. You’re such a good girl, Penny, a good girl all for me.  _

Penny feels bile building in her throat but she manages to stutter out a quick, “Thanks.” She squeezes tightly on Peter’s arm, telling him silently they need to get out of there. 

Peter gets her message. “I’m sorry, sir,” Peter says to the man. It would sound polite to anyone who didn’t know him, but Penny can hear the urgency and protectiveness in his voice. “But I’m afraid my sister hasn’t been feeling well this evening, we were just on our way out.”

“Allow me to escort you-”

“That won’t be necessary,” Peter cuts in quickly. He pushes past the man, wrapping a protective arm around Penny. 

Penny doesn’t know where they’re walking too, she just trusts him to keep her safe. “Penny,” Peter whispers under his breath. “I need you to breathe. Take as slow of a breath as you can, we’re going to find help. It’s going to be okay.” Penny tries to do as he says but her lungs won’t move, all she can feel is that man’s hands pressing down on her, compressing her lungs.  _ Stop screaming, brat. You’re only making this more difficult for yourself. _

“Peter?” Penny knows that voice. But who is it? Are they a safe person? 

“She’s having a flashback,” Peter explains quickly. “Do you know how to help?” The other person must nod because Penny doesn’t hear a response. “Good. Take her outside and calm her down, I need to find Tony.” 

Penny wants to protest. She wants Peter to stay with her, she knows he’ll keep her safe. But she’s having a hard time focusing, all she can see are those eyes. And she can feel his hands all over her, digging into her skin.

Something touches her arm and Penny flinches away. “Pen? It’s Steve. I’m not going to hurt you.” Penny blinks her eyes and in front of her is Steve, his blue eyes looking down at her with concern. “I need to get you out of here. Can I pick you up?” 

Penny nods jerkily, she doesn’t want him to touch her, but she knows she won’t be able to walk like this. If Steve’s here she’s okay. The hands are still squeezing her and she can still hear his words in her ear.  _ You can’t tell anyone, okay? Friends don’t tell each other’s secrets. And we’re friends right Penny? There’s a good girl.  _

Steve’s hands are so gentle as he picks her up, carrying her bridal style. She clings to his suit coat, hiding her teary face from everyone. She doesn’t know when she started crying but now her cheeks are soaking wet. “It’s going to be alright,” Steve tells her gently. “We’re almost outside.” And sure enough, a few seconds later she can feel a cool breeze on her skin. “Can you take a deep breath?” Steve asks her. She tries, the cold air helps, but she isn’t able to take a full breath. 

Steve lowers her onto an outdoor couch, the scratchy fabric brushes her skin. She feels the couch dip as Steve sits down beside her, “Can I touch you?” Penny shakes her head quickly. There are hands on her legs and her arms and her chest, moving too fast and pressing too hard and hurting her. “That’s okay. Can you open your eyes?” Penny didn’t even notice she’d closed them. She pops her eyes open, looking around for any sign of that man. “I need you to find something to focus on, anything you want,” Steve tells her calmly. Her eyes flit around for a second before landing on Steve’s navy tie. “Can you tell me what it looks like?”

“It’s-it’s your tie,” Penny forces out. “It’s blue and-and shiny.”

“Good job,” Steve praises. “Can you reach out and touch it?” Penny shakes her head, her arms are being forced against her side, held in place. She can’t move.  _ I’ll be back tomorrow, my pretty Penny.  _ “That’s okay, Penny. Now I want you to look at the ring on your hand.” Penny looks down at her right hand where a ring is fastened on her index finger. “Can you tell me about it? Where did it come from? When did you get it?” Penny frowns, Steve knows the story. She knows she told him a long time ago. But someone’s hand squeezes down on her throat and another pulls roughly at her hair, so she obliges him. 

“It’s m-my mom’s,” Penny says softly. Her voice is quieter now, but steadier. “May gave it to me when I was thirteen.” She takes a deep breath. If the ring is on her finger that means she’s not eight anymore. She’s not in her bedroom. He’s not here. There are no hands on her. No hot breath against her skin. 

“I’m here.” Penny says. It’s what she always tells Peter when she comes out of a flashback, to let him know that she’s alright. Steve seems to understand the message because he sighs in relief. 

“Here,” Steve pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket and passes it to her. As she mops up her tears the doors burst open. Penny jumps, flinching into Steve, who is much closer to her than she thought.

“Penny!” Peter comes rushing towards her, Tony not far behind. Peter’s hair is all askew and Penny knows that she must look far worse. She avoids their eyes, she knows she won't be able to handle the intensity of the emotion behind them. “Can I give you a hug?” Peter asks as he sits down beside her on the couch. Penny nods and practically falls into her brother’s arms. She clings to him, sobbing into his suit. A gentle hand strokes her hair and Penny looks up to see Tony kneeling on the floor in front of her. 

“Sweetheart?” He asks softly. Penny pulls out of Peter’s arms and leans into Tony, letting him cradle her against his chest. He murmurs to her softly, “It’s okay. I’m right here. You’re safe.” 

“Tony?” She asks sleepily, her bones feel like lead under her skin.

“Everything’s alright now, bambina,” he tells her gently. 

“I’m tired,” Penny admits, her eyes falling closed.

“Go to sleep, picciola,” Tony whispers. Penny drops her head only his chest, letting exhaustion overtake her.

* * *

Penny wakes up slowly, her body feels heavy and exhausted. Sunlight casts soft shadows on her floor, indicating it’s still morning, meaning she should be up and about soon, but her bed is just too warm to even think about getting up. However, a glance at the clock shows her that it’s nearly nine in the morning, well past the time she normally wakes up. Unlike her brother, who can easily sleep till noon, Penny is an early riser. So, with a sigh, she forces herself upright.

As she sits up everything comes back to her. Last night.  _ He _ was there. He found her again. He could do it again. Penny forces the spiraling thoughts out of her head. She’s in her bedroom in the tower. That means she’s okay. She’s safe. To distract herself, she stands up and walks into the bathroom. She’s no longer wearing her party dress so someone, she’s guessing Pepper or Natasha, must have changed her into her pajamas. She’s wearing loose pajama pants with small polar bears all over them and one of Tony’s MIT sweaters she stole from him a while back. Her eyes are covered with smudged mascara and makeup so she quickly takes a makeup remover and cleans her face. Her eyes are still a little puffy, but she deems herself presentable and heads towards the kitchen, not bothering to change out of her pajamas. 

Over the stove, Steve is flipping pancakes, Tony and Peter are sitting at the counter: eating and talking. Penny tucks her hands into the sleeves of the sweatshirt, takes a deep breath, and walks into the room.

Peter is the first one to see her, jumping out of his seat and running to hug her. Like her, he is still in his pajamas, but the dark circles under his eyes tell her that she slept far better than he did. The siblings embrace tightly, “I’m sorry,” Peter whispers in her ear. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize him.” 

“It’s not your fault,” Penny tells him, pulling out of the hug, looking Peter dead in the eyes. “I’m okay.” Penny flicks her eyes towards Steve and Tony, both trying to eavesdrop without appearing obvious, “Did you tell them anything?” 

Peter shakes his head, “I didn’t know how much you wanted to tell them.”

“Kid!” Tony calls from the kitchen. “Let your sister in to have some breakfast.” Peter rolls his eyes but steps aside to let Penny walk more into the room. As Steve passes Penny a plate of pancakes and bacon, he gives her shoulder and gentle squeeze before pushing her towards the others. 

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Tony asks when she sits down next to him. “Get enough sleep?”

Penny nods, “Yeah. Um, thank you,” Penny looks at everyone: Steve, her brother, Tony, “all of you for helping me last night. I’m sorry-”

“Nope,” Tony cuts her off. “You have absolutely nothing to apologize for.” He taps the counter next to her plate. “Why don’t you eat and then we can talk after?”

“Okay,” Penny agrees. 

While she eats Steve and Peter make idle chat, but Penny knows that it’s just to keep the room from falling silent. Penny doesn’t say anything, instead, she focuses on eating. She tries not to think about the conversation they’re about to have, but it’s hard. 

In only a few minutes they’re going to know her biggest secret, her deepest shame. What will they think of her? Will Tony still be able to call her his daughter? Will either of them be able to look at her? Will they have any respect for her after this? 

Penny wishes she could know the answer to those questions before starting this conversation. 

After she places her dishes in the sink, the four of them sit down in the living room, Penny near the arm of the couch with Peter next to her. Steve and Tony sit side by side of the coffee table across from them. 

Tony sighs, looking between Penny and Peter, “Where do we even begin?” 

Penny shares a look with Peter, “With an explanation.” 

“You don’t have to-” Peter tries. 

Penny shakes her head, “It’s okay, Pete. I want to do this.” Peter squeezes her hand and she turns back to look at Steve and Tony. “When we were eight years old, Peter wanted to go to this science camp during the summer. I wasn’t interested. But, um, at the same time May got word that her job would be cutting staff so she needed to work extra hours to make sure she kept her job and Ben was a police officer so he was almost never home. So they hired a sitter.” Peter squeezes her hand again, telling her to take her time. 

“He was nice at first, he liked watching movies with me and doing puzzles, but, um,” Penny takes a stuttering breath. 

“We don’t have to talk about this,” Tony says softly, he leans over and brushes his thumb across her cheek. “You don’t need to tell us.” 

“I think I do,” Penny fights back tears as she continues, taking a deep breath. “One day he...he said he had a new game for us to play and I-I didn’t know any better so I agreed to play. He showed me these awful-awful pictures and told me-” She inhales sharply, stopping a sob in her throat. Penny looks up to keep the tears from falling, but they do anyway. “I trusted him and he...” She takes a long breath. “And he raped me.” 

Penny looks back at the two men across from her. Steve’s face has become rock solid, he doesn’t look at her, but rather somewhere behind her. Tony is shocked, his eyes bulging. Peter moves just a bit closer to her. 

She wipes her cheeks, “He was at the gala last night and he tried to talk to us-”

“What’s his name?” Steve cuts in. 

“Steven Wescott. But everybody used to call him Skip,” Peter tells him, spitting the name like it is leaving a bad taste in his mouth. “He only spent three years in prison.” 

“He’s going back,” Tony growls. 

“Tony,” Penny tries, “you can’t do that-”

“Like hell I can.” Penny has to stop herself from flinching at the danger and hostility in his tone. But Peter can always tell when she’s scared; he squeezes her hand. Tony softens when he sees them. He takes a calming breath and leans towards them, “Penny. What can we do to help you?”

“I want to go to therapy,” Penny says immediately. “After the trial, Ben and May couldn’t afford it and, as you probably noticed, I have a hard time with flashbacks and panic attacks.”

Tony waves his hand, “Consider it done, we’ll start looking for someone tomorrow.” 

“Thank you,” Penny uses the back of her hand to wipe away her tears. 

Tony reaches over and squeezes her hand, “Of course, sweetheart. Now move over,” Tony stands up and squeezes to sit next to her, “you need a hug.” 

Penny laughs through her tears and lets Tony pull her into a hug. One of his hands strokes her hair and the other gently rubs her back.  _ He still loves her _ . Penny didn’t realize how worried she had been about Tony hating her, calling her a slut, wanting nothing to do with her. But here he is, holding tight on to her, shielding her from the world, promising to help her. 

“I love you, honey,” Tony whispers. “I don’t want you to hesitate to ask me for anything, okay? I’m here for you 24/7.” 

“That goes for me too,” Steve says from behind her. Penny lifts her head from Tony’s chest and looks over her shoulder where Steve and Peter are. Steve smiles at her and she knows that it’s true. She doesn’t have to worry about anything as long as they’re with her. Penny reaches out an arm to her brother and her quasi uncle and pulls them both into her hug. And surrounded by her loved ones, Penny has never felt safer. 

She knows they will protect her and keep her safe but above all she knows they will love her and support her. And that’s all she really wants. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you want more Penny and Peter twin fics I have a whole series dedicated to it! (please send me some prompts for more fics like this)
> 
> You can find me on tumblr @romeoandjulietyouwish
> 
> I love talking to people so don't be afraid if message me to say hi!
> 
> Please leave kudos or a comment if you enjoyed this because they keep me inspired and writing!


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